David Flatman column: Why sporting leaks leave a bad taste in the mouth

This column appears in the current edition of Sport magazine. , and

We now regard sporting news leaks as normal. Normal to us because, pretty much every day, we can open a newspaper - or, more likely, check Twitter - and read one piece of inside information or another. In football, managerial sackings and shortlists for replacements are splashed for all to see, and in rugby union there hasn’t been a surprising team announcement at international level since 1842.

But there are other leaks, too. I remember signing a contract with Bath Rugby, one that had taken 11 months to negotiate. This was largely down to massive incompetence and a lack of professionalism on their part, by the way, as all I’d ever said was: “Same again please.”

But this prolonged negotiation is relevant, because we only actually agreed final terms in that room, on that day. While my agent and I sat in the financial director’s office, he physically adjusted the contract on his computer, before printing it out and having me sign it with an old, chewed biro whose nib disappeared up inside itself if I pressed too hard. Heady days.

In that room, there were just the three of us. I got home less than 30 minutes later and, to my surprise, had a phone full of text messages. It turns out that, in the time it took me to drive home, an infamous rugby journalist with a penchant for (accurate) rumour had tweeted about my new deal. He stated duration and salary, and he was right. To the bloody penny.

I didn’t tell him, and the nerdy money man would rather have set light to a fiver than forfeit confidentiality. So it was my agent. A good mate, but always inclined to show off, to be the guy with the info. And in this petty game of one-upmanship is where the problem has always festered.

Imagine being an elite sports coach and being in a private selection meeting. Then imagine sneaking back to your room, checking nobody can hear you from the corridor, and calling your favourite journalist. Then imagine betraying the confidence of your peers by revealing sensitive information that was supposed to stay in the room. I know this is an issue as old as time, but I still find it all so mucky. I mean, these guys must see one another post-leak and wonder who sold the rest of them out. I just can never imagine doing that.

Incidentally, the journalist in question removed the tweet as a favour, which was kind. But he also gave up his source, thereby living up to himself and completing the big circle of dishonour.

Illustration by David Lyttleton